L.A. Times article "In L.A., his own wall of China"一個中文老師在洛杉磯的故事

這篇刊於2008年三月一日的洛杉磯時報文章，題為「In L.A., his own wall of China」，記者追蹤了去年秋天才來美國高中教中文的趙燕風(譯音)在洛杉磯南區一所高中教授中文的歷程。趙老師是應中文熱帶來的中文老師需求，透過漢辦選送中國大陸老師赴美的一個例子。對於一些有 志出國「發揚中華文化」赴海外教中文的朋友，這篇文章是個很寫實的文章。這麼說好了，如果你對出國教中文有很多幻想 ，這篇文章可以馬上把你打醒。(當然你也可以讀讀這篇在台灣華語教學入口網站的文章)

事實上，我看完以後，心裡是無限感嘆，因為這位老師所面臨的挑戰，我完全可以体會，因為我也天天在面對。只是這位老師的挑戰更大，因為我已經在美國生活了三年多了，也在這裡念過書，有一群朋友。想想一個從來沒來過美國的人，無親無 故一下飛機就被丟到美國的高中教書。美國的高中對學生本身來講，有些時候是個頗殘酷的環境，更何況是對一個狀況外，語言也不靈光，文化也不太熟悉的外國老師。這個老師更被派到南區的高中學生全是拉丁人或黑人，以講西語為主。(洛城的南區是著名的移民多，低收入、暴力橫行的一區)。就算學生不太壞，美國高中生的上課態度也夠讓我們這些儒家文化成長的人灰心的了。

Zhao yan feng finally lost his cool minutes before the bell sounded, signaling the end of fourth period.

For nearly two hours, his classroom had teetered on the edge of anarchy. Students chatted on their cellphones. They put their feet on their desks. Some had their heads down, sleeping. A clique of girls loudly debated where best to shop for jeans.



"I need your cooperation," Zhao pleaded in a clumsy Chinese accent. "If you don't want to learn this language or be in my class, just don't interfere with others learning. I'm just a guest teacher."


His two-year assignment: teach Mandarin at Dorsey High in South Los Angeles, where test scores are well below the state and national averages, two-thirds of the students live near the poverty line and most have had scant exposure to Chinese culture.

"Why do I do this?" he said to the students, who were silent for the first time. "Because I want to be your friend."

Two girls in the back of the classroom giggled at the remark. Others stared at their desks. The bell rang, and the teenagers charged out of the room -- except for a boy who was still asleep. Zhao tapped him on the shoulder and told him to leave.

It was the end to another humiliating day.

"Two years," Zhao said. "Sometimes I don't know how I'll do it."



在這樣的環境下，其實老師的壓力是很大的。真正要對付的不是教學，而是教學以外的事情，學生，文化適應。我跟這位老師是同一時間開始教學的，也就是去年秋天。想到我剛開始教的時候，第一天回家一坐上車就大哭。頭三個星期，跟這位老師一樣，只是他沒說出來…我覺得像在地獄。

在美國高中教學，第一個面對的就是學生學習態度的問題。很多會當老師的背景大概從小都是一路力爭上游的那種學生，不然也不會變成老師。升學競爭壓力下成長的我們(這些老中們)，遇到這些對學習不怎麼在乎(反正有念書沒念書都 一樣)的學生真是大開眼界。亞洲小孩小學就學會的事，如上課說話要舉手，不可隨便站起來，上課要帶課本和筆，回家要寫作業等等，這些學生到了高中都還在學:

Still, he felt the weight of the cultural differences. He was grappling with the way some of his students treated him. In China, teachers traditionally command unquestioned authority. At Dorsey, the few good students were being overshadowed by those who walked around the classroom to talk to friends, sent text messages and defied Zhao's orders to pay attention. He could not understand why his efforts -- traveling all the way from China to share a resourceful language -- stood for nothing to so many.

我跟高一的學生解釋過為什麼亞洲人那麼在意受教育，念書念得那麼拼命(對他們來說，像我們那樣努力準備升學考試上補習班是不可思議的事)。但是他們還是很難体會，尤其兩種社會下的貧窮，真的差很多。以我個人偏見來看，台灣社會的一些貧窮，是一家人努力工作可是賺得微少的錢，擠在幾坪大的破落房子裡，生活過不下去還有人因此自殺。這裡的貧窮，有些是拿著杯子坐在街上等人家來救濟的。但在中國，貧窮是在農村裡生活不下去了，不得不離家去當勞動人口，無論如何還是努力過日子。越是窮，靠教育翻身越是重要。小時候坐在牛背上念書今日在美國名校念研究所的人，我真的還遇過幾個。但是在這裡卻是不一樣的概念。有些貧窮家庭從來沒有人念到高中大學，也不知道念書有什麼好的。

Markenson reminded Zhao that many of Dorsey's students live in poverty and lack family support. "Some of our students are depressed," she said. "That's why our scores are so low."

Zhao had never seriously considered the effect of poverty on his students. In China, 900 million of the 1.3 billion people are still essentially farmers. Being poor was commonplace -- but so was studying hard no matter your lot in life. He remembered a banquet he had attended a few days earlier in Chinatown. Many of the guests immigrated decades earlier and spoke about eking out a living in America. They toasted the news that one of their children had been accepted to Harvard. It made Zhao think that Chinese parents would do anything to ensure their children get the best education.


再來就是教學法，中西真的很不一樣，尤其現在小孩很多都ADD，注意力短，到了高中還是坐不住。東方老師很需要適應 這裡的學生等著被entertain的態度。對我這種上課不夠high，平常溫溫順順好好說話的人，實在是很大的挑戰。老師要讚美學生，要會玩遊戲，又要會管學生，這點對我們外國老師來說，不是很好拿捏。說真的，如果兩個學生在走廊 上鬧起來，或是一時在班上推擠，甚至說一些不雅的話，第一次遇到真的會不知所措。 要說些什麼?要做些什麼? 玩手機的事我也遇過。要怎麼辦?真的是一邊教一邊學。

最後就是motivation的問題。到底怎樣讓學生願意學中文?有些學生根本不在意成績，生活中也用不到中文，也沒有爸媽花錢送他們去中國遊學，那這些學生的態度一定是，「我幹麻學中文?」我沒有答案，也一直試著用不同的方法，目前還沒有什麼良方。這也是我一直在摸索的課題。